Folks, according to Wrestling News via a post from Ryan Frederick of The Wrestling Observer on the company's board, “The Young Bucks reportedly sent feelers out about interest in WWE after AEW deals expire.”
Oh snap, the fight after All Out must have been a whole lot worse than fans initially thought. If the Young Bucks are reaching out to WWE, a company they turned down to initially help start AEW, about potential roles moving forward, their time in Tony Khan's company must be approaching an end. Will the Bucks enter WWE as The Usos to Cody Rhodes' Roman Reigns a la how AEW used The Good Brothers with Kenny Omega? Oh no, will they lose their names and become the 2023 iteration of Jeremy and Max Buck of Generation Me?
Whoa, whoa, whoa; not so fast. Before we get too deep into the weeds of imagining what a WWE Young Bucks run would look like, let's see what Frederick actually had to say on TWO's board and dissect the meaning.
The Young Bucks probably won't be in WWE anytime soon.
When a forum user asked if there was any potential interest between the Young Bucks and WWE via the “Young Bucks reaching out to WWE?” forum post, alluding to a report he may have remembered from Dave Meltzer, Frederick delivered the following response:
…they reached out to a talent to send feelers about coming it. I can’t say they talked to anyone direct at WWE, but that would fall under tampering and this came at the same time the legal letters were being sent about tampering. Can’t confirm they actually talked to WWE people themselves, but they talked to other WWE talent about coming in, which they can do (much like WWE talent can send feelers thru AEW talent, which has happened and happens on both sides often).
Its not something they wouldn’t have done anyways since their deals are coming up at the end of 2024, and you want to maximize your leverage when it comes to getting a new deal and get the companies into a bidding war. It’s not necessarily a sign that they’re going to leave. Everyone should do it.
The hard thing with the wrestler contracts, and another reason they really aren’t independent contractors, is they can’t even negotiate new deals until their old deals are done. It’s not like they can have one deal end on December 31 and show up to their new job on January 1 unless they strike a deal in the first few hours on the 1st. But, generally the only way that happens is if there’s been indirect talks beforehand, much like in this situation. Wrestler contracts really should be more like NASCAR contracts. There was a situation there a couple of months ago where a driver, Tyler Reddick, signed with a new team for 2024 and beyond despite his contract with his current team ending in 2023. However, because he’s an independent contractor like all NASCAR drivers are classified, he’s free to negotiate to start another job when his current job ends at any point.
Welp, there you go; everything is settled, and fans can move along, right?
… nope. When another user asked for verification on this report, Frederick responded in kind:
In this instance, though, what I said is 100% true and I have it from multiple people. It’s also not a big deal and not really newsworthy. It’s not like they actually reached out to WWE management. They told a friend in the company, a fellow wrestler, that they would be willing to listen to offers when their deals are up (I believe January 2024) and to let it be known. It’s something every single wrestler in the business should be doing- it’s called maximizing your leverage. It is no different than an NFL or MLB player coming into the final year of their contract and letting it be known they are going to free agency and listening to offers from the other teams. And, in the sense of independent contractors, it’s not different than a NASCAR or Formula One driver letting other teams know that their contract runs out at a certain time and they’ll be listening to offers. Except wrestling is a weird business where you have to use your friends on the other side to let this message be known.
It does not mean they want to leave. It means they’re looking to get the best deal they can. That’s it. It’s a non-story. And if you’re a wrestler with a deal coming up in the next 18 months and you aren’t playing both sides, you need to fix that.
Okay, well, now everything is really settled now, right? The Bucks are simply doing what everyone does in the business, and even if it happened after a massive backstage fight in AEW, they aren't necessarily related.
Except that isn't true either. No, lost in almost all of the coverage of this story is the third post Frederick made on the subject; a post that really does make this a non-story.
…it doesn’t matter if it was now or at any point in the future before their contracts run out, they were going to reach out. It’s inevitable and why this is a complete non-story to be honest (and the feeler I was talking about happened before the incidents of this past weekend for the record- it was a few weeks ago). It’s just plain common sense.
Welp, there you go – the feelers Nick and Matt Jackson put out happened before their big AEW fight and therefore are unrelated. Jeremy and Max aren't coming back anytime soon.
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